Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

Believe it or not, there are people who object to the notion that Black Lives Matter (BLM) …

… no, they are not White Supremacist who believe that “Black” is “Less Than”, but rather those that believe BLM is saying “Only Black Lives Matter”.

Let’s clear the air – once and for all:

All Lives Matter … only after Black Lives Matter!

This is the reality of governance: One size does not fit all. Some people have greater and lesser needs for empowerment efforts by their government. Every society have both Strong and Weak constituents. There have always been the Haves and the Have-Nots. Lastly, the legacy of racial disenfranchisement and oppression is not to be dismissed or ignored.

This has always been the assertion of the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean. This is a relevant statement among the opening Declarations of Interdependence (Page 13):

xviii. Whereas all citizens in the Federation member-states may not have the same physical abilities, reasonable accommodations must be made so that individuals with physical and mental disabilities can still access public and governmental services so as to foster a satisfactory pursuit of life’s liberties and opportunities for happiness.

So, the goal for Good Governance must be to promote equity … as opposed to equality. This is the explanation from a previous Go Lean commentary:

Yes, in the Caribbean, we can have Gender Equity without a ‘Battle of the Sexes’. Notice, we want equity, more so than equality! We recognize that there is and will always be differences between men and women – think maternity. Each gender have different needs, the solution is not the “same” for everyone, but rather the relevant empowerments, so that everyone can “be all they can be”.

Despite the actuality of 29-of-30 member-states in the political Caribbean having a majority Black population, our goal in the Go Lean movement is not Black Nationalism, rather the goal is pluralism:

… the recognition and affirmation of diversity within a political body, which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles.^[1] While not all political pluralists advocate for a pluralist democracy, this is most common as democracy is often viewed as the most fair and effective way to moderate between the discrete values.^[2] – Wikipedia retrieved October 19, 2017.

The stewards of the new Caribbean wants to foster a pluralistic democracy. We will improve Black Image with elevating the image of all peoples in our society, not just some, but all.

We are not seeking Black superiority nor White superiority. We are seeking a society where all men, because they are created equal, have equal opportunities for protection and prosperity.

That is our whole quest: jobs and justice for all.

This is the continuation of this Teaching Series for July 2020; this is entry 2-of-6, on Black Image. The Go Lean movement presents a series every month on issues germane to Caribbean life and prospects. The commentary asserts that while the majority demographic in the region is Black (descended from Africans), we have many different minority groups that need to always be empowered – and never repressed. The full catalog on Black Image is presented as follows:

1. Black Image: Corporate Reboots
2. Black Image: Pluralism is the Goal
3. Black Image: Colorism – The Stain of Whiteness – Encore
4. Black Image: Slavery in History – Lessons from the Bible
5. Black Image: 1884 Berlin Conference – Beyond Slavery
6. Black Image: The N-Word 101

What exactly would pluralism look like in our Caribbean region?

Imagine a confederacy where no one colonial legacy lauds over another. We have 5 different colonial legacies in the region: American, British, Dutch, French and Spanish.

None favored over another.

The language used in the region would be: Dutch, English, French, Spanish and any Creole variations spoken by a mass of people; think Haiti. The focus of the Caribbean Image is not to conform to any European orthodoxy, but rather to communicate with all of the people in the homeland.

We have 5 different racial ethnicities: African, Amer-Indian, European, Chinese and East Indian. None should be favored over another.

A pluralistic democracy is the quest of the Go Lean movement, embedded in the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This is one of the 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean region (Page 127):

Having a pluralistic democracy is the Caribbean Image we want to project. Pluralism is more than just a plurality of languages; it also encompasses races, religions, national origin, gender, sexual orientation and other demographic attributes. We “widen out the tent” to bring more in.

We are not there yet; we still have inclusion and diversity issues for our Indo-Caribbean – see Appendix VIDEO – and Chinese-descended (or Sino-Caribbean) people.

This focus, diversity and inclusion, has always been a motivation for this Go Lean movement. In fact, the points of fostering a pluralistic democracy is a familiar topic for this commentary. There are many previous blog-commentaries that elaborated on this subject; consider this sample here:

The United States of America is battling with the basic concept that Black Lives Matter. 

But here in the Caribbean we are beyond that, we are trying to ensure that All Lives Matter. We are not trying to be like America; we are trying to Be Better.

While we promote a liberal acceptance of religion, despite the plurality, we are hereby doubling-down on these Judeo-Christian concepts:

• Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. – Matthew 7:12
• ³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism, ³⁵ but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right. – Acts 10: 34-35

Say it loud: “I am Black and I’m Proud”!

But here in the Caribbean all the other races can be proud too.

This is what Caribbean Image means Black Image, White Image, Indo-Caribbean Image and Sino-Caribbean Image … all working together in harmony and unity to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play.

We hereby urge all stakeholders in the region to lean-in to this roadmap to empower and elevate the people of the Caribbean. Yes, we can!

It is conceivable, believable and achievable! 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

• Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
• Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
• Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xxi.  Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. …

xxii. Whereas the heritage of our lands share the distinction of cultural tutelage from European and American imperialists that forged their tongues upon our consciousness, it is imperative to form a society that is neutral and tolerant of the mother tongue influences of our people to foster efficient and effective communications among our citizens.

xxiv.  Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix VIDEO – You’re Never Indian or Caribbean Enough (BBC News) – https://youtu.be/3eKd70M8SKg

Matthew Williams
Posted Sep 10, 2019 – Indian people have been living in the Caribbean for more than 180 years, but Chandani Persaud, founder of Indo-Caribbean London, says that their contribution to the West Indies is overlooked, and they are often excluded by the Asian community. Fearing that young British Indo-Caribbeans are turning away from their culture, she is single-handedly organising the UK’s first Indo-Caribbean festival.